Players who regularly play gaming machines of the type in question quickly tire of particular games. It is therefore necessary for manufacturers of these machines to introduce innovative game features that add interest to the games provided on such machines in order to keep the players amused and interested and therefore willing to continue playing the games.
These machines have become well known locally and abroad over a number of years. More particularly, the machines have recently gained considerable popularity throughout Australia with substantial amounts of money being wagered on these machines. There is a growing tendency for state governments to legalise the use of gaming machines by licensing operators, with resulting revenue gains through licence fees and taxation of moneys invested. The licensed operation of gaming machines is the subject of state legislation and regulation. For example, a minimum of 85% of monies invested must be returned as winnings. Manufacturers of gaming machines therefore must design their machines around these regulatory controls.
With the growth that has occurred in the gaming machine market, there is intense competition between manufacturers to supply various existing and new venues. When selecting a supplier of gaming machines the operator of a venue will often pay close attention to the popularity of various games with their patrons. Therefore, gaming machine manufacturers are keen to devise games which are popular with players as a mechanism for improving sales.
Various strategies have been tried in the past to make games more enticing to players such as, for example, the commonly known double-up feature whereby, if a player wins a particular game, that player can then risk the winnings of the game in a double-or-nothing mode in which they gamble on a subsequent, and often different, game such as whether a red or black card will be the next card drawn.
Other techniques adopted in the past have been to provide complexity in the numbering and combinations of indicia which would result in a win, thereby hoping to convince the player that there is a greater chance of winning and to keep their interest in a particular game.
The present invention provides a game feature in which, in response to a trigger condition, a substitute or substitute symbol is introduced, the substitute symbol having additional features.